Our new stop today is Marco Island. One of the heavenly corners of Florida…
Sometimes I think I live in a place like heaven, because it has different places that compete with each other in beauty. This time I discovered Marco Island, let us analyze it together, who knows, you might pass by one day too.
The island is a typical tropical fishing town, with an incredibly beautiful coast. You can tour the whole island with tourist boat trips and get an idea. While we were doing this tour, we were caught in a tropical storm. It was an exciting trip. It was a very wet tour due to the rain and waves hitting the boat, but it was engraved in our memories as a beautiful memory.
The history of the places I visit really affects me, who lived before, how did they live, how did they get to where they are today? If I do not learn this, I think I will see that place superficially and I will not be able to understand its soul. So let us look at the history of Marco Island:
The history of Marco Island dates back to 500 AD when the Calusa people inhabited the island and the rest of southwest Florida. Therefore, there were also the Calusas… Who are they? A separate research topic…
When Spanish explorers arrived on the island in the mid-1500s, they named it La Isla de San Marcos, after Saint Mark, traditionally considered the author of the Gospel of Mark. Early development of the island began in the late 1800s, after the arrival of William Thomas Collier and his family. Collier founded the village of Marco on the island in 1870, and in 1896, his son, William D. “Captain Bill” Collier, opened a hotel on the island, now known as the Olde Marco Inn. By the early 1900s, oyster fishing had become a major industry on Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands. The Burnham Oyster Cannery opened in 1903 near Caxambas Pass and operated until 1929. Ferry service between Marco Island and the Isles of Capri began in 1912.
Marco Island saw significant development in the 1960s, becoming the retirement and tourist destination it is today. The Mackle brothers of Deltona Corporation spearheaded the island’s development after purchasing a large tract of land for $7 million. Because of the development, the SS Jolley Bridge opened to traffic in 1969. Marco Island was reincorporated as a city on August 28, 1997. As with many coastal communities, residents struggle with short-term rentals and traffic congestion. On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian devastated the island with an 8-foot storm surge. – Wikipedia
After all this history, some brief notes about the island:
• Although the weather is very hot in summer and winter, do not go during hurricane seasons. (I am saying this for innocent people coming from outside Florida.)
• It is a quiet touristic town, so keep your expectations accordingly.
• Naples is very close by; I thought why everywhere is called Naples. There are three Naples that I know and I have been to. Florida, California and Naples in Italy. I researched; the name comes from Greek. It is derived from Neopolis, meaning new city.
• Final note: If you are going on a short trip, I would suggest exploring Marco Island.
Hoping to see you on many more trips where we will have beautiful memories, I will end this article with a sentence I like:
“Everything I don’t like in this life has an opposite that I like” – Coco Chanel
Traveling and meeting nice people is one of them. What are the unpleasant things? That is another article topic…
Tugba Yazici
Multidisciplinary Artist & Producer
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